Fyre Festival Cofounder Billy McFarland Caught Selling Name Drops in Ja Rule Songs for $450
We're now a few weeks removed from the mostly unmitigated disaster that was the 2017 Fyre Festival, and Ja Rule and Fyre Media co-founder Billy McFarland are still confident the music fest will return next year. That much was revealed in The New York Times' new piece focusing on some of the shoddier entrepreneurial exploits of McFarland. Apparently, selling Ja Rule name drops was one of them.
“Ja Rule is working on a new song and can mention your name, nickname, company name, etc in the upcoming hit single for $450,” reads a text McFarland reportedly sent last year. “5 Spots. LMK!”
For McFarland, hustles like that one are seemingly just the tip of the iceberg, as the fledgling mogul started his first companies as a teenager. At this point, he's a pretty accomplished guy, but that likely won't be all that helpful with the lawsuits he's facing after this year's Fyre Festival, which was ultimately cancelled after attendees found themselves searching for shelter instead of lounging in swanky villas for an island music party as advertised.
At the top of the month, Ja and McFarland were hit with a $100 million lawsuit and banned from ever hosting any future events in the Bahamas. A few days later they were hit with another lawsuit. They'e been piling on since.
See reactions to the 2017 Fyre Festival below.
See Reactions to 2017 Fyre Festival Chaos